Part 1

Translation from English into Chinese            2 hours

Read the following two passages.

Translate them into Chinese.

Write your answers on the answer sheets.

You may use additional paper for your draft but you must copy your answers onto the answer sheets.

Passage 1

Artificial Speech

Because speech is the most convenient form of communication, in the future we want essentially natural conversations with computers. The primary point of contact will be a simple device that will act as our window on the world. You will simply talk to it. The device will be permanently connected to the Internet and will beep relevant information up to you as it comes in.

Just how quickly people will adapt to a voice-based Internet world is uncertain. Many believe that, initially at least, we will need similar conventions for the voice to those we use at present on screen: click, back, forward, and so on. But soon you will undoubtedly be able to interact by voice with all those IT-based services you currently connect with over the Internet by means of a keyboard. This will help the Internet serve the entire population, not just techno-freaks.

Changes like this will encompass the whole world. Because English is the language of science, it will probably remain the language in which the technology is most advanced, but most speech-recognition techniques are transferable to other languages provided there is sufficient motivation to undertake the work.

Within ten years we will have computers that respond to goal-directed conversations, but for a computer to have a conversation that takes into account human social behaviour is probably 50 years off. We’re not going to be chatting to the big screen in the living room just yet.

There are those in the IT community who believe that current techniques will eventually hit a brick wall. Personally, I believe that incremental developments in performance are more likely. But it’s true that by about 2040 or so, computer architectures will need to become highly parallel if performance is to keep increasing. Perhaps that will inspire some radically new approaches to speech understanding that will supplant the methods we’re developing now.

Passage 2

The Atlantic Alliance Needs Tending

The U.S. and Europe. These days, they bicker almost like a couple whose long marriage is in danger of unravelling. The litany of misunderstandings and mutual resentment seems to be growing. From the death penalty to steel tariffs, from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to military spending, there is an abyss between American and European positions on innumerable issues.

Each side feels the other isn’t shouldering enough of the burdens facing both. The Europeans see an unbending posture, from the Bush Administration’s protecting inefficient U.S. steel companies to its threats to take out Iraq’s Saddam Hussein—alone, if necessary. U.S. policymakers, for their part, are losing patience with Europeans’ inability to get serious about defence spending. The war in Afghanistan has brought home the reality that much of Europe has fallen behind in military technology. And Washington is annoyed at Europe’s feckless attempts at economic reforms. As a result, Europe couldn’t play the role of economic locomotive to help pull the U.S. out of its downturn in 2001. This year, Europe is set to grow less than the U.S. once again.

Relationships in trouble can be fixed, and this one had better be. In a world increasingly fraught with danger, European leaders must commit themselves to bigger military budgets or risk being marginalised by the U.S. military machine. The $ 45.1 billion hike in military spending the Bush Administration is pushing for next year is $12.1 billion more than the entire defence budget of France. The U.S. could help by opening up more of its vast military market to European partners. And Washington should realise that in many global challenges a smart multilateral approach can be much more effective than unilateralism.

A world in which the U.S. and Europe go off on their own, in which the Atlantic alliance is reduced to mere lip service to ideals long since abandoned, is a frightening one.

Part 2

Translation from Chinese into English            2 hours

Read the following two passages.

Translate them into English.

Write your answers on the answer sheets.

You may use additional paper for your draft but you must copy your answers onto the answer sheets.

Passage 1

保姆校长

常常听到一些大学校长说：“我把学生当自己的儿女看待。”他也真做得像个严父慈母：规定学生睡眠要足8小时，清晨6点必须起床做操，不许穿拖鞋在校内行走，等等。

    我一直以为大学校长是高瞻远瞩、指导学术与教育大方向的决策人，而不是管馒头稀饭的保姆。教育者或许会说：“这些学生如果进大学以前，就已经学好自治自律的话，我就不必如此喂之哺之；就是因为基础教育没教好，所以我办大学的人不得不教。”   

听起来有理，可是学生之所以在小学、中学12年间没有学会自治自律，就是因为他们一直接受喂哺式的辅导，大学再来继续进行“育婴”，这岂不是一个没完没了的恶性循环？我们对大学教育的期许是什么？教出一个言听计从、循规蹈矩的学生，还是教出一个自己会看情况、做决定的学生？

Passage 2

发展问题

发展问题一直是世界各国普遍关注的问题。大部分发展中国家取得独立后，在发展民族经济、改变贫穷落后面貌、缩小同发达国家的经济差距等方面，取得了巨大成绩。一些国家实现了经济“起飞”，甚至创造了“奇迹”。经济增长是社会发展的基础，但有增长不一定有发展。为了避免“有增长、无发展”的现象，世界各国都把可持续发展作为国家宏观经济发展战略的一种重要选择，并深刻认识到，人类需要一个持续发展的途径。这是人类发展观的重大转折，具有深远的历史意义。

然而，在保持生态环境问题上，发展中国家存在的问题较为严重。特别是，一些发展中国家或没有认识到可持续发展的深刻内涵，或认识得很不深刻，采取的措施也不得力。因此，在今后制定新的经济发展战略时，把可持续发展作为一个突出的重要内容，是大多数发展中国家面临的迫切和艰巨的任务。
 
 
来源：教育部考试中心